Eden requested red velvet cupcakes for her “friends” party this evening. I wanted to get this up and posted early as I thought I might be busy doing last-minute things for the birthday party. I plan to make cream cheese frosting for the cupcakes and put a simple white swirl on top. To tie them into the “snow” theme, I decided to make some snowflakes for the top of each cupcake. She is only having four friends over, so I made one snowflake for each of the girls.
White Chocolate Snowflakes:
Photocopy of simple snowflake images.
Piping tool.
White chocolate chops
Finished snowflakes with a few clear sugar sprinkles and a silver candy ball in the center of each.
I found images for snowflakes on the web and printed them off. I then melted the chocolate in the microwave and put it into my new Wal-Mart piping tool and began to trace-out the snowflakes. In theory this all seemed like a great idea and basically it turned out fine, but with many grunts, groans and the odd curse under my breath. The melted chocolate was too thin and eventually worked its way under the little handle thingy that was supposed to push the chocolate down to the tip. It worked fine for the first three and then absolutely would not work for the last two. I ended up putting the last of the chocolate in a tiny Ziplock snack bag and snipped off the slightest bit of the corner. This actually worked better than the tool, next time I’ll go straight to the bag. They were a bit difficult to make as the chocolate is so much thinner than icing. The tendency was for it to run all over the place. It took a few tries to figure out how to make it work the best. I ended up doing a thin line and then going back over to make the little arms of the snowflakes thicker and thus sturdier. I also ended up aborting the printed snowflakes on the paper and ended up just doing my own thing. It was hard to make them too intricate with the chocolate having a mind of its own and being somewhat less than cooperative. As soon as I piped a snowflake, I quickly added a silver candy ball to the center and a few clear sugar sprinkles to it before the chocolate set. I had set the paper with the printed snowflakes inside the bottom of a cookie sheet with a layer of wax paper on top. This allowed me to see the snowflakes through the wax paper and also ensured that I wouldn’t break them when I tried to move them. I just set the whole tray with the completed snowflakes in the fridge to set and will add them to the cupcakes on Saturday.
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Well, it party time! Today is the official date of Eden’s birthday and we’ll be having family over for cake and ice cream after dinner. Eden requested a Oreo Cookie Cake. I’ve made this cake once before, so I knew that it was pretty easy to make. I followed the recipe, but omitted the chocolate glaze on top and opted for our favourite frosting instead.
Chocolate-Covered Oreo Cookie Cake
This recipe was adapted from the original that I found on All Recipes. It makes approximately 16 servings.
Ingredients:
Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Prepare cake batter and bake in 2 (9-inch) round pans as directed on package. Cool cakes in pans 10 minutes. Invert onto wire racks; gently remove pans. Cool cakes completely.
For the filling ~ beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with mixer until blended. Gently stir in whipped topping and crushed cookies.
Stack cake layers on plate, filling with cream cheese mixture. Add a few sprinkles of extra cookies over the top and edges of the filling (the cookies become covered in whip topping and you can’t see the black/white contrast, so I added a few cookie crumbs to get that look.)
The original recipe calls for a chocolate glaze on top. You will need Microwave chocolate and butter in small microwaveable bowl on high 2 minutes. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Cool 5 minutes. Spread chocolate glaze on top of the cake; let stand 10 minutes or until firm. Keep refrigerated.
Roy Family Favourite Frosting:
Instead of the glaze, I made a batch of our all time favourite frosting and then made rose like swirls all over the cake.
My aunt used to make this frosting when I was a kid and I absolutely loved it. It is made with a cooked white sauce made with flour and milk. You cook the flour and milk until it forms a thick pudding like texture and then add butter, white sugar (NOT ICING SUGAR) and vanilla. It is super creamy and not as sweet as most icing. You really have to try it as it is very different from any regular butter icing. The issue is that I have found it to be a bit finicky to work with and it isn’t the best for decorating. I used it on this cake and it worked out quite well, but I have run into problems before. I have tried many variations of the recipe over the years and I think I get pretty consistent results now that I have worked out some of the issues. The recipe I now follow is from Our Best Bites. Their proportions seem to work well on a consistent basis. For this cake, I doubled their recipe.
Cindy’s Tips:
Stir milk/flour mixture constantly to avoid scorching and forming lumps.
Transfer the pot with the white sauce to an ice bath (ice cubes in a bowl). Set the pot on ice and stir it regularly to avoid lumps and a crust forming on top. I used to place it in the fridge, but would often get a crust on the surface that will not beat out when making the icing. UGH! So, I stick to the ice bath and don’t have that problem anymore.
Stir the vanilla into the cooled flour/milk mixture.
MAKE SURE THE WHITE SAUCE IS COMPLETELY COOL or even COLD before proceeding. Be patient.
Add the white sauce one tablespoon at a time and beat well between. I use the whisk attachment on my beater to make the icing fluffier.
Beat for 7 to 8 minutes or until the sugar is dissolved and you can not feel the granules when you rub a bit between your fingers.
I know what you’re thinking….this seems like too much of a hassle, but believe me it is worth it. I have had to start over with this icing more times than I can count, but it didn’t prevent me from figuring out how to make it work. It is sooooooo yummy!
Swirly Rose Cake Decorations:
I used a large open star tip. Started at the center and while working my way out by circling around the center, I twisted the tip slightly. I would make about two rotations per rose. I started by just doing the top cake and was going to leave it at that as I really did like the look of chocolate on the bottom, Oreo center and then the white roses on top, but I worried about the bottom layer drying out if left exposed until tomorrow evening. I decided to go ahead and place another row of roses around the bottom layer to prevent drying. It doesn’t matter how good the cake looks, if it is dry then the effort is all for nothing. This was my first attempt at making these rose/swirls. They aren’t perfect by a long shot, but not bad for a newbie.
Here is what it looked like before I added the final row of roses along the bottom.
Winter Party Cake
Although our theme is really more for the kid’s party on Saturday, I thought the white swirls were a classic look that somewhat went with our snowflake theme and especially our colour scheme. I had baked the cakes on Wednesday, froze them and decorated them on Thursday evening after work. Eden already saw the finished cake and loved it. Hopefully it will taste great too!
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I searched all over to find a cupcake liner that either worked with my colour scheme or the winter theme, but could find nothing. So many cute little patterns and colour combinations, but not what I was looking for. So, I came up with what I thought was a brilliant idea ~ doilies. I had actually not seen this idea before, but went to my trusty computer all the same. Sure enough, not an original idea!
So, I proceeded to bake my cupcakes using the plain white liners I already had at home and then decided that I would dress them up with the doilies I had already bought for the table. (I am not really a doily gal, but I figured they would work well with the look I was going for and were even a bit snowflake..ish.
How To Make Cupcake Wrappers from A Doily
Here is a great little tutorial on how to make the wrappers. This video suggests cutting them in thirds, but another suggested cutting in half. I might have to play with the size a bit, but for the cost of doilies who really cares if I mess up one or two before I get it just right!
I think this idea will be perfect with our snow theme, but they could also be used to create a more elegant look. I am sure I will use this idea again. I am getting excited and can’t wait to pull every together at the end. Of course, you can’t see my cupcakes yet, as I won’t finish decorating them unit Saturday morning.
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You all know how much I love Lyn Genet-Recitas and her book The Plan. I have posted about it often and have been feeling the need to need to give my body a break and what better way than with carrot soup. I had stopped taking my Omega 3 supplements months ago because I have been so “reactive” to fish. I thought I would give it another whirl for two weeks to see if it made a difference or not. Now I must admit my body has not been in a purely “friendly” state for testing the supplements, but I can say that the scale has steadily climbed and they might just be the culprits. I quit taking them again today and will wait and see what happens over the next few days….interesting??
So, this brings me to today’s recipe. I have made the Carrot Ginger Soup from The Plan many times, in fact I’ve had it so much that I am a little tired of it. Although it is good, I never really loved it. I think the problem is that the recipe doesn’t give much direction in the form of how much of each spice to add. I am not great at figuring things like this out and don’t write down how much I added as I am often trying to add a bit more of this or that to tweak the flavour. The result is that I ended up with a different flavour every time I make it and even when it is really good, I can’t seem to match it the next time. So, I decided to go in search of a recipe that was similar, but perhaps more thorough or with a splash of something different. I had to be careful because I need this to remain a “friendly” food that can be a great alternative for the recipe I had.
This is a picture of Lily’s soup from Big Bang Studio.
Roasted Carrot Soup with Apple:
I found this awesome sounding recipe at Big Bang Studio and decided to see if it would serve both of my purposes – provide the same nutritional value and be outrageously delicious, as claimed in the post. I have to start by saying that this soup was “souper” easy to make and it is my absolute new favourite ~ unfortunately I’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning to see if the rest of my body likes it as much as my taste buds….it is in fact outrageously delicious as claimed!! I followed the recipe quite closely, but made a few minor changes. Here’s Lily’s recipe with the few changes I made.
Ingredients:
olive oil
salt and pepper
Jumbo bag of baby carrots (I used just under two pounds of regular sized organic carrots and chopped them in about 3″ chunks and halved the shaft if it seemed too big) 1/2 zucchini cut into thick chunks (I added this because my recipe from The Plan had zucchini in it and I wanted to keep it as close as possible).
1 MacIntosh apple
1 good-sized sweet onion, diced (Maui, Vidalia, or Walla Walla)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
2 32 oz. cartons of good chicken stock
few sprigs of thyme
curry powder
orange juice (optional)
cream (optional)
In roasting dish: Mix a little olive oil and salt and pepper over the carrots, apple and zucchini. Roast on the middle rack for 1 hour at 400 degrees, tossing once if you remember. You seriously could stop here. The roasted carrot, zucchini and apple was unbelievable. I will be making my next roasted veggie dish exactly this way.
In large stock pot, sauté the onion, garlic and fresh ginger. Place the onion mixture and the roasted veggies in a food processor or blender. Don’t over process into mush. (I actually used my little manual processor so mine ended up being very finely chopped, but not puréed) .
Add the chicken stock to the large stock pot you used for the onions and turn the temperature to medium. Throw a few sprigs of thyme in and a dash of good curry powder. (I couldn’t find fresh Thyme, so I used some ground Thyme that I had at home). Stir occasionally, letting soup thicken and the flavours ripen. Add a splash of orange juice if your carrots aren’t sweet enough. Just before serving, add a cup or two of cream if you like. I didn’t want to add the cream to the base and it was very good without, although I am guessing it would be over the top with the cream. However, I absolutely couldn’t resist giving my freshly made Crème Fraîche a try. I added a blob to my bowl of soup an stirred it in . They must serve this soup in heaven. I am sure of it!
Serve hot. For an A+ presentation: in each bowl add a wee swirl of cream, sour cream, Greek yogurt or Crème Fraîche with a crack of black pepper, and a leaf or sprig of whatever live herb you have on hand. Crusty rustic bread is a must. Enjoy!
Comparing the Two Soups:
The Plan recipe calls for carrots, zucchini, onion, garlic, raw ginger, cinnamon, cumin, onion powder, pepper and water.
This recipe also contains carrots, zucchini, onion, garlic, pepper and raw ginger. However, it also has an apple, chicken stock and a few different spices. The other possible issue in terms of being “cleanse worthy” is that the veggies are roasted. Although The Plan recommends roasted vegetables for other meals, I am not sure if it alters the “state” of the soup and thus may impact its effectiveness.
So here is my summary – Who cares? This soup is to die for, I absolutely loved it. Having said that, it would be so sweet if I were able to get similar results to that of Lyn’s recipe from The Plan. Here’s to being hopeful that I pass the scale test tomorrow a.m.! Be careful with the cream as that is where the danger is. It really is very good without it, so you may want to omit the cream from your shopping list on purpose, so you won’t be tempted. I ‘m doomed. I have a full jar of Crème Fraîche in my fridge and I already made the mistake of testing it in the soup. Most likely a big mistake ~ it was so good! Let me know what you think of the soup. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it as much as I have. (I made it for dinner, but have already had 3 small bowls – I hope it last until dinner time!)
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Last week I on was on staff room duty at work. That means you not only help to keep the staff room tidy, but are also expected to bring a snack in for the staff. I had found a recipe that I really wanted to try as it sounded delicious, but was also nutritious. Unfortunately, I had a few obstacles and didn’t end up making the snack after all, instead I took in a batch of Aunty Myrna’s Oatmeal Shortbread Cookies.
Homemade Beet Chips and Dip:
This is the plan that is yet to happen. I carefully picked out the recipes and then encountered one problem after another, with the result being “NO CHIPS FOR YOU!” (can you hear the accent of the Soup Nazi when you read that?) The first issue stemmed back to the thumb injury I sustained while cutting carrots on my mandolin slicer the Sunday before last. After having cut the tip off my thumb, I must admit I was a little “mandolin” shy, but there was no way I was slicing beets for chips without my slicer. I decided to bite the bullet and make the chips on Tuesday evening (with extreme caution). When I got home from work, I discovered that our street had suffered a water main break and that we had no water. Some how I could not see myself attempting anything that involved beets, with no water in the house! The last straw was when my search for Crème Fraîche (an ingredient called for in the dip recipe) became so ridiculous that I felt like I was on a mission in “search of the Holy Grail”. I went to not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, but six stores before giving up. It was then that I googled how to make my own. I found a very simple recipe on-line, but the mixture had to sit on the counter for 24 hours and then be refrigerated for another day. If you are following my tale at all here, you would realize that my week on staff room duty is now long gone. However, I woke up this morning to what I deemed to be pretty awesome Crème Fraîche. So, I now have Crème Fraîche, but am not sure what to do with it. I had already purchased the other ingredients for the dip, so I think I’ll just go ahead and make the chips and dip for us to try. That way, I can test the recipe before forcing it on others.
My homemade crème fraîche.
What is Crème Fraîche?
I had never used it before and wasn’t even sure what I was looking for, but here is what I have learned…Crème Fraîche is thick and creamy and would fall somewhere between sour cream and yogurt. It is also generally much higher in fat. It can be used on top of fresh fruit, in crêpes, on waffles or pancakes, in dips, salad dressings or even added to a pasta recipe. Basically it can be used in lieu of sour cream or yogurt and can even replace the mayo in most recipes. It is not sweet, but less tart than sour cream.
Homemade Crème Fraîche:
This is the recipe I followed for making my own homemade Crème Fraîche. The instructions were simple and easy to follow. The only issue I had was that the recipe called for “cultured” buttermilk. I tried to research before going shopping, but wasn’t getting a clear answer on whether the buttermilk at Safeway is “cultured” or not. In the end, I bought both the whipping cream and the buttermilk at my local Safeway. It did not say “cultured” and although I really have nothing to base my opinion on, I think mine turned out fine. It definitely thickened and is all that they say it is….creamy and delicious.
I am hoping to make the dip and beet chips this week, so I will keep you posted and share the recipe if it’s a keeper. The moral of this story is….if you need Crème Fraîche, plan ahead and make your own. (In the end, I did find a small local store that claims they always carry it…. except of course on the day I was there to purchase it!)
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I have been eyeing these babies up for months and finally decided to give them a try. I have to start by saying that I make pancakes for the kids often, but despite my interest in trying new recipes, my kid’s will always opt for Grandma Ruth’s Pancakes when given the choice. My mom’s recipe is for basic fluffy homemade pancakes without any extras ~ no berries, no bananas, no special sauces, just plain old pancakes with fake syrup. I think my kids must be the only humans on the face of the earth who get mad when I try to trick them by placing Pure Maple Syrup in the Aunt Jemima bottle. They both prefer the fake stuff, hands-down…go figure?
Cinnamon Swirl/Roll Pancakes:
I contemplated not posting this at all, but then thought I would share my experience with Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes. Fortunately, these pancakes tasted a lot better than they looked. They were delicious and even got a thumbs up from my kids. However, I am not sure I would make this exact recipe again. It is probably much more me than the recipe, but I have still opted not to share the recipe. I don’t want to knock someone else’s recipe, especially if it is more me than the recipe itself. There really was no way to make this pancake look good. To be honest, this was the best of the bunch.
Here is a photo of one of the pancakes that looked somewhat better than the rest. I wouldn’t call it a total failure as they were really good, but my presentation got a minus 1. Not too pretty!
The recipe I used called for sour cream in the pancake batter. I thought this was interesting and was keen to try it, but the batter was super thick. When I poured the batter on the griddle, they didn’t even really flow into a nice circle shape. I also found that the cooked pancakes seemed more inclined to fall apart, almost like they didn’t bind or something. Not sure, but I prefer my Mom’s recipe. I think that the batter that you use is probably irrelevant to the final results, next time I will use our tried and true favourite….Grandma Ruth’s Pancake Recipe!
The cinnamon mixture that was used for the filling was very runny. I followed the instructions, but know from making cinnamon buns that this mixture is usually much thicker. The recipe I followed called for equal amounts of brown sugar and butter and I found it very difficult to pipe the sugar “into” the pancake batter as it was a big runny mess.. You need more sugar than butter. Recipe Girl suggests 1/4 butter to 1/4 cup + 2 T. of brown sugar + 1/2 T. cinnamon ~ this sounds better, I will follow her recipe and suggestions next time. And, oh yes, there will be a next time. Despite the less than successful attempt at creating a visually appealing pancake with a cute little swirl, they were delicious!
You can see the brown sugar mixture is quite runny.
I basically did everything they said not to do….got too close to the edges and found it too runny to pipe “into” the batter as suggested. What a mess!
On top of the mess with the swirls, the cooked pancakes seemed fall apart really easily. The Maple Coffee Glaze was also delicious, but almost too sweet for me.
Cinnamon Swirl/Roll Pancake recipes are all over the internet. If you love pancakes or even if you don’t, these are worth the extra effort and I suggest giving them a try. I wouldn’t plan to serve them for company until you’ve tried them out first as they are a bit finicky. Follow Recipe Girl’s tips and I think the results will be great. I can’t wait to try her cream cheese glaze. Having said that, I think these fall into the category of a rarely treat ~ they are simply sinful and would rank pretty low on the nutrients scale!
Here is a shot of the stack made by Recipe Girl. I put this in to inspire you! This was the look I was going for, but missed by a mile. Good luck!
I thought I would share my mom’s tried and true recipe for regular fluffy pancakes. I love this recipe and find that it is a great basic recipe to play with. I have had great success using whole wheat flour entirely or even just using it in conjunction with the white flour. I have also had some success using coconut flour although I am not going to even try to suggest that it is the same. You can also use this basic recipe and add your favourite fruit directly into the batter. I love to add blueberries, pumpkin, bananas or peaches. Yummy!
Grandma Ruth’s Pancakes
1 1/2 cups of flour
1-2 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
1 1/4 cups of milk
2 Tablespoons oil or melted butter
Sift dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix well either by hand or with an electric mixer. Cook on a preheated griddle or in a non-stick pan. Flip the pancakes when bubbles start to form on the surface of the batter.
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These cookies are like shortbread and matrimonial cake (date squares) all in one. Yummy! I don’t make these very often because the batter is dangerously delicious. I can’t honestly say how many cookies this makes because I ate far too much cookie dough and made two different sized cookies. Being “sandwich” cookies, you need two cookies for each one. I ended up with 30 1 1/2″ cookies and 40 1″ cookies . The cookies do not “rise”, so the size you cut is what you end up with and they can be placed quite close on the baking sheet.
Oatmeal Shortbread Cookies:
Ingredients:
1 lb. softened butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups of flour
4 cups of oatmeal
Instructions:
Use your hands to mix the ingredients in a large bowl. Flour your counter well and knead the dough until it is rollable. (I sandwich a lump of dough between two sheets of parchment paper and use the rolling-pin on top of the parchment paper. This really helps to avoid the dough/cookies getting stuck on the counter or gooping up the rolling-pin.) Use a cookie cutter to cut the cookies into about 1 1/2″ circles and cook at 350 degrees for 8 to 12 minutes. (I like mine slightly under-cooked so I baked mine for 8 minutes.)
Date Filling:
1/2 lb. dates
3/4 cup of water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Boil and stir until thick with most of the lumps gone. Cool the mixture a little and fill the cookies.
As an alternative, you can fill the cookies with butter icing or jam. I have never used jam, but icing is always a hit!
I am not sure about you, but by the time Boxing Day rolls around, I seem to be suffering from the post-Christmas blahs! The crazy weeks of preparation, late nights and poor eating habits all come crashing down and I wake up feeling like I’ve been hit by a semi-truck.
If there is one thing that I can be certain of it is that I absolutely need my sleep and my body functions best with 8 to 9 hours per night. For many, if not most, going to bed at 11 or midnight is the norm, but for me it is very rare that I stay up that late. A great game of Settlers or Canasta can definitely lure me into the wee hours of the morning, but other that I am usually off to bed before 10 with 9 being my favourite time to hit the sack. I do find with the kids getting older and staying up later, my 9 o’clock bedtime is becoming much less frequent and more of an occasional luxury. This month has been crazy busy and I found myself collapsing into bed after 11 most nights. All of those late nights and lack of sleep have certainly taken their toll. My eyes are super puffy with big bags under them and my stomach has been uncomfortable for days.
Fighting the Blahs with the Plan
The great news is, that I know just what to do to get back on track. The thing I love the most about The Plan is that I have already determined many of the foods that are “friendly” for my body. Throughout the holidays it is difficult to be in complete control of what you are eating as you are often out and about. I have previously done several posts regarding The Plan and how impressed I am with Lyn-Genet Recitas’s book. I know this is the time of the year when so many are making New Year’s resolutions and planning to shed the Christmas pounds or get back to the gym. Lyn’s book is “hands-down” the best source I have come across. I love that The Plan does not tell you what you can and can not eat, but rather teaches you how to discover what foods work for you and which foods don’t. It is completely different for every individual and allows you to have the control over your own body and how you feel.
Here are some of my previous posts in which I have referenced The Plan:
Here are a few simple tips for getting back on track quickly:
Get a good night’s sleep, 8 hours if possible
Adequate water intake ~ drink the number of ounces equal to half your body weight (compensate with additional water if you have coffee or exercise as both cause dehydration)
Get back to foods that you know to be friendly for you (Note: I don’t say healthy foods)
The Devil Foods According to Lyn
One of the biggest pitfalls that we fall into is assuming we are eating well because the media has told us what “super foods” we need in our diets to be healthy. One of the most fascinating parts of Lyn’s book is learning that your “go-to” healthy foods might be causing the most havoc on your body. Lyn refers to the following 7 foods as the “Devil Foods” because so many people are “reactive” to these foods. Basically, this means that the foods cause your body to react and set it into an inflammatory state which often results in weight gain as well as other symptoms.
Oatmeal
Salmon
Asparagus
Tomato Sauce
Tofu
Black Beans
Turkey
The list of Devil Foods is quite surprising to most. Most of the items on her list were regular items in my diet. I believed that salmon was a super foods and we had it once a week faithfully. We often chose ground turkey over beef, believing it to be a superior choice for healthy eating. Asparagus is one of our families favourite vegetables. Not really the foods you would expect to see on such a list. The point is not that these are bad foods, but more so that people are consciously choosing these foods believing that they are making a healthier choice when in fact some or all of these foods can be highly reactive for many people. So, the result is that roller coaster of weight gain and loss. Have you ever been eating super “healthy” and still gained weight or would lose a few, gain a few. That happened to me all the time, but as soon as I read this book I knew why. Although I have discovered other foods as well, I have discovered that I am highly reactive to many types of fish. We ate fish one to two times per week and for me, a small fillet of fish can cause me to gain up to 2 pounds within 8 hours of consuming it. So you can see how you could be eating really well, but every time you consume that reactive food, you jump back up a few more pounds.
Is The Plan for You?
If you struggle with your weight or even just want to get off those last few pounds, I swear, this is what you have been looking for. I am not going to lie. The first 20 days take quite a bit of commitment because you need to get your body into a “friendly” state, so that you can test foods and get accurate results. However, once you begin to discover the keys to success, you will always have that knowledge to go back to. The Plan doesn’t prevent me from eating anything at all, but it just helps me to read my own body better, make better choices that work for me and most importantly, have the tools to get back on track when I derail and know I am in a reactive state.
My Staple Salad Courtesy of the Plan
This is my absolute favourite everyday salad. I never tire of it and it is really delicious and super easy to make. The dressing is courtesy of the The Plan. I make a batch of dressing every Sunday and it lasts all week.
Lime Agave Vinaigrette
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/8 cup water
1 Tablespoon Herbes de Provence
1 Tablespoon agave nectar (you could probably use honey as a substitute, but I always have agave on hand)
Optional: 1 clove garlic, crushed (I am sure fresh would be better, but we buy the big jar from Costco and I use that in it)
Mix and store in the refrigerator for up to one week. Makes 6 to 8 servings.
Individual Salad:
a bed of greens (either baby Romaine or Spring Mix)
1/4 of an avocado, sliced
1/2 of a Granny Smith apple, chopped
few thin slices of purple onion
a handful of raw pumpkin seeds
This salad tastes like “summer” to me, but is great for any time of the year. It is light, yummy and looks incredible. We will be having this salad for dinner tonight with some left over Borscht. Mmmm good!
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My dad is Ukrainian, but my mom was not. Despite their different backgrounds, my mom embraced the Ukrainian traditions of my dad’s family and we began to celebrate Christmas Eve ~ Ukrainian style. As a child, I can vividly remember (okay more like vaguely ~ I don’t have the best memory) spending every Christmas Eve with my dad’s family. We would eat a very traditional Ukranian meal with the 12 meatless dishes. This consisted of an appetizer of “wheat” (Yuck ~ I tried it every year, but never did acquire a taste for it!) followed by borscht. The main meal included perogies (potato, cottage cheese and prune), cabbage rolls (sour and tomato), beet rolls, fish, creamed mushrooms, and some buns. I am not sure if the 12th dish varied from year to year or not as I am having trouble remembering it. I know we always had headcheese (not meatless), but can’t remember if it was part of the meal or served later in the evening after midnight mass. I know we also ate pyrizhky (tiny little buns stuffed with sauerkraut). It was always an awesome evening filled with great food, family and plenty of card games. I will always cherish those family gatherings at my Aunty Dora’s. I don’t remember gifts ever being a big part of our celebration. I am not saying there weren’t any, but it was certainly not the focus. It was about family and celebrating the birth of Jesus.
Roy Family Traditions:
When Tim and I were married, we agreed that we would spend Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas Day with his. This has always worked out well for both of us and we are blessed that both of our families are close enough that we never have to choose between the two. We have always attended a Christmas Eve service, but no longer go to midnight mass. Springs Church usually offers multiple service times, so we opt for an early service and then head home for a later dinner. Church is only an hour, but the service is always fantastic and you never quite know what to expect. Our church is far from traditional and the contemporary nature always makes the evening quite spectacular and really sets the tone for the entire Christmas experience. We leave filled with the spirit of Christmas and ready for an awesome evening of fun and festivities.
For many years, my mom and dad would host Christmas Eve dinner, but my mom and I would share the preparations and do much of it together. When she passed away in 1999, we carried on in much the same way, but I took over the roll of hosting. Over the years, we have scaled back on our menu and have stuck to the dishes we like the most. We have made some additions and removed a few items from our meal plan, but much of what we serve has remained the same. My dad was 63 when my mom passed away and he immediately took over the role of helping prepare Christmas Eve dinner. He even made mom’s Christmas cake for the first few years after her passing ~ what a trooper! Now almost 77, dad still prepares a good portion of the meal. He makes beet rolls (like cabbage rolls but made with beet leaves), sour cabbage rolls, cabbage rolls with tomato sauce, and he even made the perogies this year!
I make my Mom’s Borscht (so delicious!), fresh buns, fish, nalysnyky(Ukrainian Crepes), and creamed mushrooms. If I have beet leaves, I also make beetniks. These delicious little morsels are made by wrapping a beet leaf around bread dough. You bake it as you would a bun and then warm them in a whipping cream and onion sauce. To die for, seriously. I found a link to a recipe that looks pretty similar to what I do. I don’t actually have a recipe, but this gal’s post seems to be pretty much bang on. The only extra tip I have is that I always pop my leaves in the freezer. When you take them out and thaw them they are nicely wilted and much easier to wrap.
So, you can see we are down to about 9 or 10 dishes, depending on the year. Of course the meal is super delicious, but very rich and high in calories. Everything is either made with or served with butter and/or whipping cream sauce. In fact, if you count the cream sauce and the butter and onions we set on the table to smother our food with, I am sure you could make it up to the “12 dish” count! It is for this reason, that this meal is restricted to once a year. We indulge, until we bulge, and then restrain ourselves for another year.
We no longer have a traditional Christmas Eve dessert. Sometimes I make a fancy dessert and other times, we just eat Christmas baking. I do miss my mom’s incredible mince meat tarts with ice cream that were our traditional dessert when my mom was alive. I might give them a whirl one year, but I don’t know if I can find her recipe and they just wouldn’t be the same if it wasn’t her recipe.
After dinner, the kids are allowed to open one gift from us (usually new PJ’s) and any gifts from my side of the family. I only have one brother and his family is not always able to join us, so sometimes it is just my dad and the four of us. My mom always had her heart and door open to those who didn’t have family to spend the holidays with and I too try to include anyone that is without family or a place to go. We are thrilled to extend the invitation to others, as no one should be alone at Christmas time.
Of course, it would not be a Wasslen Christmas with games. The evening usually ends very late after a few board games with the kids and a round or two of Canasta with the adults.
This is our traditional Ukrainian Christmas meal which we always have on Christmas Eve.
Nalysnyky Recipe:
Crepes:
6 eggs
2 teaspoon sugar
2 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
flour (enough to make a thin batter)
Using a non-stick pan, spoon a small amount of batter in the pan to form a thin crepe. (I tend to make my crepes about 3 to 4″ wide and about 6 to 7″ long ~ more rectangular in shape. I just find this works better for rolling and holding the filling). Cook until just beginning to brown. If your crepe is thin enough you will not need to fiddle with trying to flip it over as it will cook right through. I transfer the cooked crepes to wax paper and then stack them in layers. You can fill them as soon as they are cool enough to handle. You can also wrap the stacked crepes in cellophane and store them in the fridge until you are ready to fill them.
Filling:
2 cups of dry cottage cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup of cream
pinch of cinnamon
pepper
pinch of sugar
Mix the filling ingredients in a bowl. Fill the crepes and roll them up. Place them in the bottom of a greased baking dish. Cover with cream sauce and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until bubbling.
Cream Sauce:
Dice a large onion (or more – you can never have too much onion) and sauté in a generous amount of butter (about 1/2 cup?). Add about 1 to 2 tablespoons of flour and stir it in to soak up some of the butter. Add 2 cups of whipping cream and about 1/4 cup of fresh dill. Simmer until the sauce thickens. Sauce should be a yellow colour. This sauce is excellent served on beetniks, beet rolls, nalysnky or on perogies in lieu of sour cream.
This recipe is one of our favourites and is always a hit at potluck dinners. If you are bringing a dish to a family gathering this season, it is a guaranteed hit. I also love that you can make the crepes ahead of time and store them in the fridge until they need to be baked. Enjoy!
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Okay, this post is definitely not intended for those of you that dazzle your guests with homemade truffles every holiday season. I am a newbie! I have never even attempted to make truffles before, probably because I was so afraid of failing miserably. I have done a few things with melted chocolate before and I have found my skills to be a bit hit and miss. I hate waste and worried about ruining a whole batch of truffles. However, when I saw this recipe for a cookie dough truffle, I just had to face my fears and give it a try. Traditionally, I usually only bake cookies when I have a desire to fill up on cookie dough. It is rarely about having cookies in the house and more about satisfying my craving for raw dough. So, with that in mind, what could be more amazing than a cookie dough truffle with a hint of salt. I love that whole salty sweet trend that is the rave right now, and these truffles did not disappoint. I am not going to say that these are super easy to make, but they weren’t too difficult either. I was struggling a bit, but figured out a simple solution that made the process much easier and less frustrating. I will share it later in the post.
Cookie Dough Truffles with Sea Salt
Anne Thorton shared this delicious recipe on the Food Network and I followed it exactly. If you get all worked up over raw eggs then this recipe is not for you. Over the years I have eaten more than my share of raw cookie dough (with raw eggs in it) and have never gotten sick. Anne posted a warning at the end of the recipe and I have included in my post as well, but if you are concerned don’t bother making these. However, you need to know you are passing up one incredibly scrumptious treat.
Ingredients:
1/2 recipe Chocolate Chip Blondies (I think you could use your standard Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, but I did use the recipe that follows at the end)
2 bags semi-sweet chocolate chipits (about 3 cups), melted over double boiler for dipping (I melted mine in the microwave, but you need to do so in short spurts and stir in between. My microwave actually has a “melt chocolate setting”, so it is easy to do and less to clean-up after)
Fleur de sel, for decoration (coarse sea salt) toothpicks for dipping
Anne suggests several other options for decorating instead of dipping the balls in chocolate, but I stuck with the dipping and sea salt and they turned out well. Being my first attempt, I really wanted to keep it simple and knew I would like the salty/sweet contrast.
Directions:
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out 1 heaping teaspoon of chocolate Chip Blondie mixture and roll it into a ball. Place onto the parchment paper and repeat with the remaining batter. Cover with plastic wrap and place into the freezer for at least 2 hours and up to 1 week. (Keep the cookie dough balls in the freezer until needed prior to dipping in the chocolate, otherwise they will melt into the chocolate when they are dipped.)
Remove 1 baking sheet of truffles from the freezer and skewer your toothpick into the truffle ball and dip into the melted chocolate. Use a spatula to paint the chocolate onto the toothpick and place the truffle back onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Remove the toothpick and cover up the hole. Sprinkle the truffle with some fleur de sel. Finish dipping all the truffles and garnish with desired toppings. Place them into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to let the chocolate to set up. They will keep for 1 week in refrigerator.
Cindy’s Tip: I was a little frustrated trying to dip the ball nicely and found that the end of the ball opposite the toothpick looked nice, but the “bottom” of the ball around the toothpick ended up not looking as nice. I really wanted this to be the bottom of the truffle, but couldn’t slip the toothpick off and get the less pretty part sitting on the bottom. But alas…I figured out a solution (the pros can ignore this as I am sure you have your own little system). I set my parchment paper on my wire cooling rack which sits about 6 inches off the counter. With the toothpick pointing down and the ball on top, I carefully poked the toothpick through the wax paper and the bottom of the cooling rack. I then pulled the toothpick from beneath the rack and right out of the ball. It allowed me to have the toothpick hole on the bottom and the nice smooth surface on the top. Once I figured this out, I was able to work much faster and they turned out better. I didn’t even bother filling in the toothpick hole on the bottom of the truffle.
You can see my rack has legs that raise it several inches off the stove.
Here is a shot of the truffle, just dipped and the toothpick poking through the parchment paper and cooling rack.
Chocolate Chip Blondies:
Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch fine sea salt
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Method:
Beat your butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until it is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the brown and granulated sugars a little bit at a time, pouring them in on the side of the bowl. While you’re adding your sugars, stop the mixer occasionally and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure that everything is fully mixed. Cream the butter and sugar mixture until it is light and fluffy, about 8 minutes. (Creaming creates air pockets in the dough, and therefore these Blondies have a light and delicate texture.)
Whisk your flour, baking soda and sea salt in a bowl. Add your eggs 1 at a time, adding the second only after the first is fully incorporated. Once the second egg is fully incorporated, add your vanilla. Turn your mixer down to low-speed and slowly add the flour/baking soda/sea salt mixture. Once the dry ingredients are fully incorporated into the wet ingredients, add in all those chocolate chips. Your machine will seem to be struggling to mix in the chocolate chips because there are so many of them, but don’t turn it up, leave it on low and allow it to fully mix the chips in.
* Raw Egg Warning: There is a slight risk of salmonella or other food-borne illness when consuming raw eggs. To reduce this risk, it is recommended that you use only fresh, properly refrigerated, clean grade A or AA eggs with intact shells, and avoid contact between the yolks or whites and the shell. For recipes that call for eggs that are raw or undercooked when the dish is served, use shell eggs that have been treated to destroy salmonella, by pasteurization or another approved method.
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